When Donghua emerged from the main hall of the Immortal Court, six people were already standing on the white jade steps in front of the hall. The Spirit Race's Jade Spirit Child and Wood Spirit Child stood side-by-side on the left side of the steps; one was enveloped in gray-white jade light, the other in Gray-White Vines. Between them hung a fist-sized jade vine seed, its surface inscribed with the Spirit Race's Ten Thousand Woods Register. The Immortal Clan's Grand Master Xuandu and Yin Xi stood in the middle of the steps; Xuandu carried a gray-white void map of Possibility Daoist Arena temple in his sleeve, while Yin Xi held the gray-white key to the ten-thousandth pass of the Pass Daoist Arena. The Immortal Court's two Primordial Daluo Golden Immortals — Immortal Lord Tianheng and Immortal Lord Tiandu —stood on the right side of the steps. Tianheng held the Immortal Court's Myriad Stars Weighing Instrument, and Tiandu held the Immortal Court's Ten Thousand Measure Ruler; behind them floated a large gray-white scale and a large gray-white ruler.
Donghua stood before the palace gate, took the Immortal Court's command flag from its shelf, and planted it in the ground. The flag sank three feet into the earth, then unfurled on its own, revealing the outlines of the five continents and a map of the four directions of Chaos. He turned to the six and said, "Master has issued a summons. It's time to gather those leftover fragments of Pangu in the Chaos. We, the seven Primordial Daluo Golden Immortals of the Immortal Court, the Immortal Clan, and the Spirit Race, will split into four groups and head in four directions. I will go alone on one route, and the six of you will each go in pairs on your own."
Jade Spirit Child tucked the jade vine seeds into her sleeve. "What if Master Donghua encounters a hard-shelled shell while traveling alone?"
"I'll dismantle the hard shell myself. If you encounter a hard shell, don't try to dismantle it yourself, come back and report." Donghua pulled the Immortal Court's command flag from the ground, stuffed it into his sleeve, and headed towards the due east direction of Chaos. Jade Spirit Child and Wood Spirit Child went due south, Xuandu and Yin Xi went due west, and Tianheng and Tiandu went due north.
Donghua traveled due east for forty-nine days, collecting forty-two Great Thousand Worlds and one hundred and thirty Middle Thousand Worlds. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the Immortal Court Flag in his sleeve suddenly trembled on its own, its corner shifting three inches to the east. Donghua stepped forward and saw a giant shell floating deep within the Chaos. The shell's surface was covered with gray-white balance patterns, arranged symmetrically from the core to the surface, each pattern representing a complete law of balance. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded a balance crystal, each crystal containing an Origin balance. The shell looked like a giant balance scale laid out over countless Eons.
Donghua pressed his hand against the shell, and a tearing sensation came from his palm—the balance patterns on the shell suddenly accelerated, converging from all directions into his palm. But when they reached the center, they split into two streams, one to the left and one to the right, both with equal force, pulling his palm to either side. He withdrew his hand, and a grayish-white balance bead appeared in his palm, containing a complete law of balance. He crushed the bead and examined it; from the fragments floated an extremely subtle divine thought, "The Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances is here. Who comes?"
Donghua flicked the shards away. "Donghua, the scales on your shell are quite good. They can balance themselves and even actively distribute the weight to people. It's a pity that what's being distributed is your own balancing force. Even if I crush it, you'll have to balance it again."
A calm and unhurried voice came from inside the shell, its tone like weights falling onto a scale. "My shell is covered with ninety-nine million balance lines, each formed from a strand of balance force I release. If you crush a balance bead, I release ten more strands of balance force. The faster you crush it, the more I release. The harder you try, the more even I become."
Donghua ignored him and took a step towards the center of the shell. The shell's balancing patterns immediately wrapped around his ankle. He trembled, and the patterns shattered into fragments, but within three breaths, the fragments reformed into even denser patterns, binding him even more tightly. He took another step, and another layer of patterns shattered. The reformed patterns were twice as thick as before, but the extra thickness spread to both sides of his feet, one strand on the left and one on the right, prying his feet apart. Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances laughed inside the shell, "You've taken three steps, and the shell's balancing patterns have increased from 99 million to 110 million. After you take a hundred steps, the shell's balancing patterns will increase to 1 billion. When you reach the center of the shell, the shell's balancing patterns will split you in two—left half and right half, without a gap in the middle."
Donghua stopped and glanced at the shell. The scales on the shell were indeed growing wildly, but he noticed that the direction of the scales' forces was regular—they converged from the surface to the center, becoming denser towards the center. However, in the very center of the shell, there was a palm-sized area where the scales were extremely sparse, so sparse that the shell material underneath could be seen. He pointed to that sparse area, and a drop of Donghua's Origin immortal light seeped from his fingertip. The immortal light landed on the sparse area, and a small section of the shell suddenly collapsed, revealing a bottomless scale hole. From inside the hole came a muffled groan from Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances.
"All ninety-nine million balance patterns on your scales are connected to the 'Ten Thousand Balance Scale' at the core of your shell." Donghua withdrew his finger. "You release balance force to nourish the patterns; the more patterns, the larger the scale, and the larger the scale, the more balance force you can release. But there's a 'balance eye' at the bottom of your scale. When the balance eye is blocked, the scale can store balance force; when the balance eye is open, all the balance force in the scale is dispersed to both sides. I just dripped a drop of Donghua's Origin immortal light onto your balance eye, and it can't be blocked anymore."
Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances's expression changed. A creaking sound came from inside the shell, indicating the balance beam was tilting. The balance markings on the shell began to loosen, tilting layer by layer from the center outwards, exposing the shell material where it tilted, which was covered with fine cracks. Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances pressed the nine balance pythons onto the shell surface, and the pythons transformed into nine balance pillars to support the shell surface. However, while the pillars could support the shell surface, they could not support the balance eye. The Ten Thousand Balance Scale inside the shell was still tilted, and the tilting force leaked out from the cracks in the shell. Donghua slapped the tilted part of the shell surface, and a crack appeared. He crawled into the crack and landed next to the Ten Thousand Balance Scale inside the shell. Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances was squatting on the base of the balance, trying to plug the balance eye with his hand. Each plug made the balance tilt twice, and each plug made it tilt four times.
"Don't block it." Donghua squatted down beside the scale pan and looked down. "That balance eye is the counterweight hole of the shell, a counterweight hole on the debris that Pangu threw out when he created the world. You've turned the shell into Ten Thousand Balance Scale, and that counterweight hole has become the balance eye. The balance eye distributes the balance force, which is the shell's self-regulation—if there's too much balance force in the scale, the shell becomes too heavy, so the shell opens the balance eye to release the balance force and reduce the weight. If you block the balance eye, it's no wonder the shell is tilted."
Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances looked up at him. "Then what should we do?"
"Open half the balance eye, store half the balance force inside the scale, and the weight of the shell will be just right. Don't cover all the balance lines on the shell surface; leave 30% inside the shell as a balance reservoir, and cover the shell surface with 70% is enough."
Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances squatted on the scale's base for a long time, pondering. He released his hand from blocking the balance eye, and after a while, the balance eye stopped on its own. The balance force inside the scale dropped from full to half, and the balance lines on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The shell was no longer crooked, and the balance lines were no longer erratic. He jumped off the scale's base and handed the nine balance beads to Donghua: "You can take this world. But I'll go back with you, and I'll borrow your method of adjusting the balance eye for three days. I cultivated the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances for tens of thousands of years, and in the end, I even made my own shell crooked. I don't even know when I blocked it."
Donghua put the Hengzhu into his sleeve. "I'll lend you the method. You keep the shell. After you're done, go to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and find Yin Xi. He has ten thousand trials there. The ten thousandth trial is called the 'Naturalness Pass.' When you can adjust the weight of the shell without using the Hengyan (a type of eye), you'll be considered a master."
Jade Spirit Child and Wood Spirit Child traveled due south for forty-nine days, collecting thirty-eight Great Thousand Worlds and one hundred and twenty Middle Thousand Worlds. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the jade vine seed in Jade Spirit Child's sleeve suddenly jumped, and a crack appeared on its seed coat, from which a thin vine extended, pointing due south. Wood Spirit Child slammed his Wood Spirit Staff on the ground, and a small gray-white flower sprouted from its tip, its stamen trembling three times towards due south. The two went forward to look, and there floated a giant shell deep in the Chaos, its surface covered with Gray-White Vines patterns. The patterns were arranged in a spiral from the core of the shell to the surface, each pattern representing a complete law of growth. Every three zhang (approximately 10 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded a vine seed crystal, each crystal sealing an Origin growth. The shell looked like a giant vine ball that had been entwined for countless Eons.
Jade Spirit Child pressed his hand against the shell, feeling a pricking sensation from roots in his palm. The vine-like patterns on the shell suddenly accelerated their growth, wrapping around his palm from all directions. He withdrew his hand, and a grayish-white vine bead appeared in his palm, containing a complete law of spreading. He crushed the vine bead and examined it; from the fragments floated an extremely subtle divine thought, "The Dao Venerable Wansheng is here. Who comes?"
Jade Spirit Child flicked away the fragments. "Jade Spirit Child, the vine patterns on your shell are quite nice. They can grow on their own and even actively wrap around people's hands. It's a pity that what wraps around you is your own vine roots. Even if I crush it, you'll still have to grow a little more."
A soft laugh came from within the shell, and the vine patterns on its surface suddenly exploded simultaneously, transforming into a gray-white vine net that enveloped the entire giant shell. A woman in a gray-white dress emerged from the net, surrounded by nine vine pythons, each holding a sprouting vine seed in its mouth, each seed containing a complete law of growth. The Dao Venerable Wansheng spoke, his voice like a bamboo shoot breaking through frozen earth. "My shell is covered with ninety-nine million vine patterns, each one grown from a vine root I released. For every vine seed you crush, I release ten more vine roots. The faster you crush them, the more I release."
Jade Spirit Child ignored her and took a step towards the very center of the shell. The vine patterns on the shell immediately wrapped around his ankle. He trembled, and the vine patterns shattered into fragments, but within three breaths, the fragments regenerated into even denser vine patterns, binding him even more tightly. He took another step, and another layer of vine patterns shattered, the regrown ones twice as thick as before. Dao Venerable Wansheng stood within the vine net and laughed, "You've taken three steps, and the vine patterns on the shell have increased from 99 million to 110 million. After you take a hundred steps, the vine patterns on my shell will increase to 1 billion. When you reach the center of the shell, the vine patterns will wrap you up like a seed and bury you in the soil."
Jade Spirit Child stopped and winked at Wood Spirit Child. Wood Spirit Child thrust his Wood Spirit Staff into the shell, and the small flower at the tip exploded into a cloud of grayish-white pollen. The pollen landed on the vine patterns on the shell, and the vines, now covered in pollen, suddenly began to grow wildly, even faster than the Dao Venerable Wansheng had urged. As the vines grew, they intertwined themselves, forming knots that multiplied, causing the vine patterns on the shell to go from orderly to disordered, and from disordered to a tangled mess. Dao Venerable Wansheng shouted from inside the shell, "What kind of pollen did you sprinkle?"
Wood Spirit Child pulled the staff back. "Growth-promoting powder. It's specifically for making vines grow wildly, so they grow too fast and strangle themselves. Your vines are already growing fast, and if I push them even faster, they'll become unruly."
Dao Venerable Wansheng tried to pull the tangled vines back into the shell, but they were already tangled into a knot that couldn't be pulled back. Taking advantage of the chaos, Jade Spirit Child pointed to the area in the very center of the shell where the vine pattern was sparse. A drop of Yu Lingzi's Origin jade liquid seeped from his fingertip. The jade liquid landed on the sparse area, and suddenly a small piece of the shell collapsed, revealing a bottomless vine hole. A muffled Dao Venerable Wansheng came from inside the hole.
"All ninety-nine million vine patterns on your surface are connected to the 'Ten Thousand Life Pool' at the core of your shell." Jade Spirit Child withdrew his finger. "You nurture the patterns with vine roots; the more patterns, the larger the pool, and the larger the pool, the more vine roots you can place. But there's a 'vine eye' at the bottom of your pool. When the vine eye is blocked, the pool can hold the vine roots, but once the vine eye opens, all the vine roots in the pool grow wildly outwards. I just dripped a drop of Jade Spirit Origin Jade Elixir onto your vine eye, and now it can't be blocked anymore."
Dao Venerable Wansheng's expression changed, and a frantic, rustling sound came from inside the shell. The vine patterns on the shell began to grow wildly, twisting and turning layer by layer from the center outwards. Where they twisted, the shell material was exposed, covered with fine cracks. Dao Venerable Wansheng pressed the nine vine pythons onto the shell surface, and the vine pythons transformed into nine vine pillars to support the shell surface. However, the vine pillars could support the shell surface but not the vine holes, and the Ten Thousand Life Pool inside the shell was still bubbling out vine roots. Jade Spirit Child slapped the twisted part of the shell surface, and a crack appeared. He crawled into the crack and landed on the edge of the Ten Thousand Life Pool inside the shell. Dao Venerable Wansheng Zun was squatting at the bottom of the pool, trying to plug the vine holes with his hands. If he plugged one hole, two more vines would emerge; if he plugged two holes, four more would emerge.
"Don't block it." Jade Spirit Child squatted by the pool and looked down. "Those vine eyes are the counterweight holes of the shell, the counterweight holes that came with the debris that Pangu threw out when he created the world. You turned the shell into the Ten Thousand Life Pool, and those counterweight holes became vine eyes. The vines sprouting from the vine eyes are the shell's self-regulation—if there are too many vines in the pool, the shell becomes too heavy, so the shell opens the vine eyes to let the vines out and reduce the weight. If you block the vine eyes, it's no wonder the shell collapses."
Dao Venerable Wansheng looked up at her. "Then what should we do?"
"Open half the vine eye, leave half the vine roots in the pond, and the weight of the shell will be just right. Don't spread all the vine patterns on the shell surface; leave 30% inside the shell as a vine storage area, and cover the shell surface with 70% is enough."
Dao Venerable Wansheng squatted at the bottom of the pool for a long time, then loosened her hand from blocking the vine's eye. The eye stopped bubbling after a while. The number of vine roots in the pool decreased from full to half, and the number of vine patterns on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The shell was no longer tangled, and the vine patterns were no longer erratic. She jumped up from the bottom of the pool and handed nine vine seeds to Jade Spirit Child: "You can take this world. But I'll go back with you, and I'll borrow your method of regulating the vine's eye for three days. I've cultivated the Dao of Ten Thousand Lives for tens of thousands of years, and in the end, I've made my own shell a tangled mess. I don't even know when I blocked it up."
Jade Spirit Child put the vine seed into his sleeve. "I'll lend you the method. You collect the shells. After you're done, go to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and find Yin Xi. He has ten thousand trials there. The ten thousandth trial is called the 'Naturalness Pass.' When you can adjust the weight of the shells without using the vine eyes, you'll be considered a master."
Grand Master Xuandu and Yin Xi traveled due west for forty-nine days, collecting thirty-three Great Thousand Worlds and one hundred and ten Middle Thousand Worlds. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the Void Map of Possibility Daoist Arena in Xuandu's sleeve suddenly lit up, revealing the outline of a giant shell in the due west direction. Yin Xi placed the gray-white key from the ten-thousandth level onto the map, measuring the shell's surface, which was covered with gray-white graduated patterns. The patterns were arranged in a ring from the shell's core to its surface, each pattern representing a complete law of measurement. Every three zhang (approximately 13 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded a graduated crystal, each crystal containing an Origin of measurement. The shell's surface looked like a giant measuring ruler covered with countless Eon.
Xuandu pressed his hand against the shell, and a tearing sensation came from his palm. The markings on the shell suddenly accelerated, converging into his palm from all directions. He withdrew his hand, and a grayish-white measurement bead appeared in his palm, containing a complete law of measurement. He crushed the bead and examined it. From the fragments floated an extremely subtle divine thought, "The Dao Venerable Wandu is here. Who comes?"
Xuandu flicked the fragments away. "Xuandu, the markings on your shell are quite good. The energy can even actively flow into people's hands. It's a pity that what flows in is your own measurement. I'll crush it and you'll have to measure it again."
A calm, unhurried voice came from within the shell, its tone like a ruler scraping across a stone slab. "My shell is covered with ninety-nine million measurement lines, each line formed from a strand of measurement I release. For every measurement bead you crush, I release ten more strands. The faster you crush it, the more I release. The harder you try, the more accurate my measurements become."
Xuandu ignored him and took a step towards the center of the shell. The shell's runes immediately wrapped around his ankle. He trembled, and the runes shattered into fragments, but within three breaths, the fragments reformed into even denser runes, binding him even more tightly. He took another step, and another layer of runes shattered, the reformed runes being twice as thick as before. The Dao Venerable Wandu laughed inside the shell, "You've taken three steps, and the shell's runes have increased from 99 million to 110 million. After you take a hundred steps, the shell's runes will increase to 1 billion. When you reach the center of the shell, the shell's runes will be able to detect every inch of deviation in the laws within you, and then measure you into a ruler based on those deviations."
Xuandu stopped and winked at Yin Xi. Yin Xi pressed the key to the ten-thousandth level onto the shell, and the grayish-white halo on the key seeped into the shell, pinpointing the exact location of the sparsest area in the very center of the shell. Xuandu pointed to that sparse area, and a drop of Xuandu's Origin light seeped from his fingertip. The light landed on the sparse area, and a small section of the shell suddenly collapsed, revealing a bottomless abyss. From within the abyss came a muffled groan from the Dao Venerable Wandu.
"All ninety-nine million degree patterns on your scale are connected to the 'Ten Thousand Measure Ruler' at the core of your shell." Xuandu withdrew his finger. "You release degree patterns to nourish the scale; the more patterns, the larger the ruler becomes, and the larger the ruler, the more degree you can store. But there's a 'degree eye' at the bottom of your ruler. When the degree eye is blocked, the ruler can store degree; when the degree eye is open, all the degree leaks out. I just dripped a drop of Xuandu's Origin Purifying Light onto your degree eye, and it can't be blocked anymore."
Dao Venerable Wandu's expression changed. A rattling sound of leakage came from inside the shell. The scales on the shell began to loosen, peeling off layer by layer from the center outwards, exposing the shell material covered with fine cracks. Dao Venerable Wandu pressed the nine scale pythons onto the shell surface, which transformed into nine scale pillars to support the shell. However, while the pillars could support the shell surface, they couldn't hold the scale holes, and the Ten Thousand Measure Ruler inside the shell was still leaking. Xuandu slapped the area where the scale had peeled off, and a crack appeared in the shell surface. He crawled through the crack and landed next to the Ten Thousand Measure Ruler inside the shell. Dao Venerable Wandu Zun was squatting on the base of the ruler, trying to plug the scale holes with his hands. He would plug one and it would leak two, then two and it would leak four.
"Don't block it." Xuandu squatted down beside the measuring tape and looked down. "That measuring hole is the counterweight hole of the shell, a counterweight hole on the debris that Pangu threw out when he created the world. You've made the shell into Ten Thousand Measure Ruler, and the counterweight hole has become the measuring hole. The leakage of the measuring hole is the shell's self-adjustment—if too much measurement is taken in the ruler, the shell becomes too heavy, so the shell opens the measuring hole to release the measurement and reduce weight. If you block the measuring hole, it's no wonder the shell collapses."
Dao Venerable Wandu looked up at him. "Then what should we do?"
"Open half the measuring tape, and keep half the measuring tape inside; that's just the right weight for the shell. Don't cover all those measuring lines on the shell surface; leave 30% inside as a measuring compartment, and 70% on the surface is enough."
Dao Venerable Wandu squatted on the ruler's base plate for a long time, then loosened his hand from blocking the measuring eye. The measuring eye leaked for a while and then stopped on its own. The measurement within the ruler decreased from a full foot to half a foot, and the number of measuring lines on the shell decreased from one billion to sixty million. The shell stopped falling off, and the measuring lines stopped malfunctioning. He jumped off the ruler's base plate and handed nine measuring beads to Xuandu: "You can take this world. But I'll go back with you, and I'll borrow your method of adjusting the measuring eye for three days. I cultivated the Dao of Ten Thousand Measures for tens of thousands of years, and in the end, I turned my own shell into a leaky ruler. I don't even know when I blocked it."
Xuandu the Du Pearl into his sleeve. "I'll lend you the method. You keep the shell. After you're done, go to City of Ten Thousand Crafts and find Yin Xi —wait, you are Yin Xi."
Yin Xi, standing nearby, tucked the key into his sleeve. "I'll be right here. Tell him to come find me in City of Ten Thousand Crafts after he finishes collecting the shells. Reserve the first ten thousandth level for him."
Immortal Lord Tianheng and Immortal Lord Tiandu traveled due north for forty-nine days, collecting thirty-four Great Thousand Worlds and one hundred and eight Middle Thousand Worlds. On the evening of the forty-eighth day, the Immortal Court's Myriad Stars Weighing Instrument in Tianheng's sleeve suddenly tilted by itself, the scale beam shifting three inches towards due north. Tiandu placed the Immortal Court's Ten Thousand Measure Ruler on the scale beam and measured the outline of a giant shell in the due north direction: the shell's surface was covered with gray-white scale star patterns, the patterns radiating from the shell's core to the surface, each pattern representing a complete law of balance. Every three zhang (approximately 13 meters) on the shell's surface was embedded a scale star crystal, each crystal sealing a fundamental Origin of balance, making the shell look like a giant scale laid with countless Eon.
Tianheng pressed his hand against the shell, and a tearing sensation from the balance scales surged through his palm. The scale-like patterns on the shell suddenly accelerated, converging into his palm from all directions. He withdrew his hand, and a grayish-white scale bead appeared in his palm, containing a complete law of balance. He crushed the bead and examined it; from the fragments floated an extremely subtle divine thought, "Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances is here. Who comes?"
Tianheng flicked the shards away. "Tianheng, the scales on your shell are quite impressive. They can weigh themselves and even actively draw material into people's hands. Unfortunately, what draws in is your own scale; even if I crush it, you'll have to weigh it again."
A calm, unhurried voice came from inside the shell, like a weight falling onto a scale pan. "My shell is covered with ninety-nine million scale marks, each mark formed from a strand of balance I release. The more you crush a bead, the more balance I release. The harder you crush, the more accurate my balance becomes."
Tianheng ignored him and took a step towards the center of the shell. The scale patterns on the shell immediately wrapped around his ankle. He trembled, and the scale patterns shattered into fragments, but the fragments reformed into even denser scale patterns within three breaths, binding him even more tightly. He took another step, and another layer of scale patterns shattered, the reformed patterns being twice as thick as before. Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances laughed inside the shell, "You've taken three steps, and the scale patterns on the shell have increased from 99 million to 110 million. After you take a hundred steps, the scale patterns on my shell will increase to 1 billion. When you reach the center of the shell, the scale patterns on the shell will weigh you down like a weight and hang you on the hook of the scale."
Tianheng stopped and winked at Tiandu. Tiandu placed the Immortal Court's Ten Thousand Measure Ruler on the shell, measuring the precise location of the sparse scale pattern in the very center of the shell. Tianheng pointed to that sparse area, and a drop of Tianheng's Origin starlight seeped from his fingertip. The starlight landed on the sparse area, and a small section of the shell suddenly collapsed, revealing a bottomless scale hole. From inside the hole came a muffled groan from Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances.
"All ninety-nine million scale lines on your scale are connected to the 'Ten Thousand Balance Scale' at the core of your shell." Tianheng withdrew his finger. "You add scale lines, and the more lines you add, the bigger the scale becomes, and the bigger the scale, the more scale lines you can hold. But there's a 'scale eye' at the bottom of your scale. When the scale eye is blocked, the scale can store scale lines, but when the scale eye is opened, all the scale lines leak out. I just dripped a drop of Tianheng's Origin Starlight onto your scale eye, and now your scale eye can't be blocked anymore."
Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances's expression changed. A creaking sound came from inside the shell, indicating the scales were tilting. The scale markings on the shell began to loosen, tilting outwards layer by layer from the center, exposing the shell material where it tilted, which was covered in fine cracks. Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances pressed the nine scale pythons onto the shell, which transformed into nine pillars to support the surface. However, while the pillars could support the surface, they couldn't hold the scale's eye, and the Ten Thousand Balance Scale inside remained tilted. Tianheng slapped the tilted area of the shell, creating a crack. He crawled through the crack and landed beside the Ten Thousand Balance Scale inside. Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances was squatting on the scale's base, trying to plug the scale's eye with his hand; each plug made it tilt twice, each plug made it tilt four times.
"Don't block it." Tianheng squatted down beside the scale pan and looked down. "That eye on your scale is the counterweight hole of the shell, a counterweight hole from the debris that Pangu threw out when he created the world. You've turned the shell into Ten Thousand Balance Scale, and that counterweight hole has become the eye. The scale leaks because the shell is self-regulating—if the scale is too accurate, the shell becomes too heavy, so the shell opens the eye to release the accuracy and reduce the weight. If you block the eye, it's no wonder the shell is tilted."
Venerable of the Dao of Ten Thousand Balances looked up at him. "Then what should we do?"
"Open half the scale's eye, store half the scale's internal markings for accurate weighing, and the weight of the shell will be just right. Don't cover all the scale markings on the shell's surface; leave 30% inside as a storage compartment, and cover the surface with 70% is enough."